Andreatta: In Barrington, beer is on the ballot

Seth Olney, owner of Olney Place in Barrington, Yates County, has been battling the town in court for two years. "I don't know who's going to lay down arms," he says.
Tina MacIntyre-Yee and David Andreatta

Seth Olney is locked in a court battle with the Town of Barrington over the use of the tap room and deck at his business, The Olney Place.(Photo: TINA MACINTYRE-YEE/@tyee23/staff photographer)

On Election Day, voters in a small town on the east branch of Keuka Lake will find three questions on the back of their ballot whose answers could profoundly alter their lives.

They aren’t questions 1, 2 and 3 — the ones facing every New York voter — about whether to hold a constitutional convention, strip corrupt politicians of their pensions, or create a forest preserve land bank.

The questions of import for the 1,681 residents of Barrington in Yates County are 4, 5 and 6, which together boil down to this: Would you like to enjoy a beer at a tavern, restaurant or hotel in town?

It is tempting to regard these ballot proposals as trick questions since there are no taverns, restaurants or hotels in Barrington.

The only place in Barrington is The Olney Place, a popular market and deli on Route 54, whose venture into serving craft beer has spawned a civic dispute of epic proportions.

But the questions are as serious to residents as the shock of learning recently that Barrington has been, for all intents and purposes, a dry town for half a century.

To that extent, the ballot questions amount to a referendum on The Olney Place.

The first question limited the sale of alcohol for off-premises consumption only, meaning a grocery store, like The Olney Place, could sell beer to customers who drank it off site.

The second limited on-premises consumption to hotels, of which there was one at the time called The Viking Resort that has since closed.

How the State Liquor Authority missed this when it granted The Olney Place its license is an only-in-New York-story.

Barrington is so small it doesn’t have a post office. Like most properties in town, including Barrington Town Hall, the mailing address for The Olney Place is Penn Yan. Other Barrington properties use a Dundee address.

The State Liquor Authority never realized The Olney Place was in Barrington. And, apparently, no one in town government realized the law restricting alcohol consumption had been on the books for 50 years.

At a public meeting in August, red-faced authority officials said they wouldn’t strip The Olney Place of its current license for now, but they made no guarantees for the future and added that extending a license to the tap room and deck was out of the question unless voters changed the law.

The Olney Place, located on Keuka Lake, offers a carefully curated selection of craft beers, dockside delivery, and great sandwiches.(Photo: Provided)

Hence Question 4 on the ballot:

“Shall a person be allowed to obtain a license to operate a tavern with a limited service menu (sandwiches, salads, soups etc.) which permits the tavern operator to sell alcoholic beverages for a customer to drink while the customer is within the tavern?”

That question was tailored to The Olney Place. Substitute “tavern” with “full-service restaurant” and “year-round hotel” and you have Questions 5 and 6.

Voters are taking them seriously.

Barrington’s population has stayed level over the last year, but the number of registered voters has surged 5 percent to 819 from 781, according to the Yates County Board of Elections.

The Olney Place is named for its owner, Seth Olney, a Barrington native who 10 years ago bought a ramshackle roadside trailer of a general store and turned it into a charming spot for gourmet sandwiches, cottage accoutrements and Finger Lakes kitsch.

But its name is also a play on words in that it is known as “the only place” between Penn Yan and Hammondsport for travelers and locals to pick up what they need — and perhaps enjoy a beer.

The Olney Place.(Photo: Photo courtesy of The Olney Place)

The store is seasonal — open only five months — and turns out the lights by 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in the summer. It closes at 7 p.m. most other days.

The Olney Place is popular because people want what it offers. How many of those people live and vote in Barrington will be revealed on Election Day.

It is entirely possible the town could become more dry if voters reject all three questions.

But if they do that, they’ll jeopardize the best thing to happen to Barrington in 50 years.